THOMAS TASCHINGER: If you carry open, carry polite

Published 4:10 am, Sunday, January 18, 2015

You can file this one under, "Be careful what you wish for." Two open-carry groups in Arlington, which are also strangely anti-police, have been following officers in that city and harassing them.

The groups, Open Carry Tarrant County and Cop Block, listen to police scanners to find officers and sometimes film them when they confront suspects. They occasionally yell insults at the officers or shout slogans like "Hands up, don't shoot" or "I can't breathe."

To its credit, Open Carry Texas has denounced these vigilante tactics, saying, "We have always placed an emphasis on public relations, and believe the 'in your face' style of fellow gun rights groups is not only ineffective but detrimental. OCT does not condone or support harassing police officers, and we certainly do not support anyone shadowing officers with guns."

This is the flip side of open carry that some supporters don't think about. They assume it applies to people like them - older, conservative men, maybe veterans, maybe rural.

That's fine, but open carry will also apply to punks on a street corner or bikers at a rally. Or the bozos in Arlington who threaten and harass police.

Make no mistake about it, open carry is coming. The Legislature can't wait to pass it, and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott can't wait to sign it into law. It will probably take effect on Sept. 1 with many other new laws passed by this year's Legislature.

Texans can already carry long guns like rifles or shotguns openly, and soon they will be able to display handguns as well. If lawmakers are smart, however, they will include two provisions in the new law.

One is some kind of license for open carrying, which can easily be accomplished by adding open carry rights to the concealed-carry permit. That process requires permit holders to demonstrate that they have the visual and physical ability to shoot a handgun and hit a target. They are also required to take a one-day classroom course on basic gun handling and safety.

The other provision would allow places like business to opt out. If business owners don't want visible weapons on their premises - and many won't - they should have that right. Property rights are conservative too.

The good news in all this is that most states have open carry and have not had any major problems with it. Anti-gunners said concealed carry would be a catastrophe for Texas, and they were completely wrong. It turned out to be one of the best changes in modern Texas.

But in a few months, if you're a police officer hounded by an gun-toting clown trying to provoke you, or your eccentric neighbor thinks he has to be armed and open everywhere, well, I guess you take the good with the bad and deal with it.

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Thomas Taschinger, TTaschinger@BeaumontEnterprise.com, is the editorial page editor of The Beaumont Enterprise. Follow him on Twitter at @PoliticalTom